


Eddie and Richie (In It's Lair)

by PeevesThePolt



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Character Death, Love Confessions, M/M, My First Fanfic, Not A Fix-It, Sad, Short, Spoilers, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-12 02:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20556536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeevesThePolt/pseuds/PeevesThePolt
Summary: While the rest of the Losers take the last stand against It, Richie is with Eddie, and in their last moments together, some old feelings show themselves again.This is NOT a Fix-It Fic. Sorry.





	Eddie and Richie (In It's Lair)

**Author's Note:**

> After watching the new movie, and sitting through *that* scene in the third act, I decided to write about the scene that we didn't see between Richie and Eddie while the other Losers fight It. Because we all deserved that, right? SPOILERS!!!

The other Losers, besides Richie, had all gone through the tunnel in hopes of taking a final stand against It. Eddie’s eyes were closed, and the pain he felt through his middle was like nothing he had ever experienced before; he was keenly aware of Richie hovering over him. 

“You should go help the others, Richie.” He said, and immediately realized he was losing breath. 

“No.” Richie’s tone was foreign to Eddie.  _ When did he become so grown up?  _ “I’m not leaving you here alone.”

“Don’t worry, Rich,” he said smiling, “I’ll have your mom to keep me company.”

Eddie knew that wasn’t the right thing to say. 

“Really, Eds?” Richie’s tone changed again, this time to one that sounded more desperate. “You’re fucking bleeding out. How can you joke at a time like this?” 

“How can you  _ not?”  _ Eddie said, finally opening his eyes to look at Richie’s face. Much like his tone, Eddie could not remember ever seeing Richie so… serious? Sad? Mature? All of the above? He continued, “That’s all we ever do, Richie. It’s all we’ve ever done. You say some dumbass joke and I pretend that I hate it. I say something stupid and you act like you love it. It’s our thing. Our... our s-schtick. Why would we change that up now? Why?” He took a deep breath, closing his eyes again, then added, “and don’t call me Eds.”

The few seconds of silence that followed rattled between them. They were both aware that the other Losers had gotten It’s attention by now. 

“Because it’s not real.” Richie said, finally; quietly. 

Eddie opened his eyes once more and simply asked, breathlessly, “What?” 

“None of that is real, Eddie.” Richie was looking in his squinted eyes now, with an intent that Eddie couldn’t understand. “It never was. The jokes, the banter, the whole bullshit facade. It’s just how we… we expressed it back then. As kids, when we were dumb as fuck and didn’t know how to say what we were really feeling, we passed it off as jokes and shit. And, I guess, coming back after all these years, we just picked up where we left off. But we’re grown now. We can’t keep dancing around this. I just.. I just wish we could’ve realized it sooner.”

“Realized w-what, Richie?” Eddie asked, his voice trembling. 

“Eddie,” Richie was looking at him again, and Eddie saw it.  _ Finally  _ saw what Richie was going on about. “Please don’t make me say what you already know. What we both already know.” 

“Richie,” Eddie felt his throat closing up and, on instinct, reached for his inhaler that was no longer with him. He felt himself dying. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything.” Richie was closer to him now, and his hands were on his shoulders. “I mean, I would like you to say  _ something _ , but you don’t have to.” 

Eddie felt more and more of himself chip away as he bled out. His head was foggy and he knew he didn’t have long before he went. Richie yelled something that Eddie couldn’t understand at the other Losers. He was drifting in and out now. He grabbed at Richie, using almost all of the strength he had left, and pulled him even closer. 

“Richie,” Eddie said, looking up into the other man’s eyes. The man, who was once a boy. A boy who he had loved more than anything else. More than his mother. More than his inhaler. A boy who he had forgotten about for 27 years, yet was the same boy who had plagued his dreams weekly ever since leaving Derry. The man he had watched on the television some nights and later thought about while he was with Myra. Eddie smiled. “Kiss me, trashmouth.” 

If Eddie was expecting any hesitation at all, he didn’t get any. Richie closed the small gap between them and planted one right on his lips. The kiss wasn’t all pleasant. The dirt, crud, and blood made for a fairly distasteful combination in their mouths, but neither man seemed to care. Eddie felt, as he believed Richie did too, that this was long overdue. It was better than Myra and better than any of the other girls before her too. This was  _ Richie  _ and it felt right. 

The kiss broke when the screams of It echoed through the caves. The monster was finally dying, they both knew, but it needed one last kick. Eddie smiled at him. 

“It’s dying, Richie, but they need you.” He said, feeling weaker now; the kiss had taken the last of his energy. 

“I can’t leave you, Eds,” Richie cried, pressing his forehead to Eddie’s. “I won’t.”

“You have to. You know you have to. I’ll be fine.” Eddie knew he wouldn’t be fine, but he also knew Richie had to be out there with their friends. “Go.” 

“I love you, Eds.” Richie said and kissed him again. 

“I love you too,” Eddie smiled, feeling Richie pull away from him reluctantly, closing his eyes again. “Don’t call me Eds.”

Without opening his eyes, he knew Richie was gone, and he smiled again. He felt the need to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come, and he remembered he was dying. Surprisingly to him, Eddie didn’t feel anxious about this fact. On the contrary, he may - in these final short seconds of his life - feel more alive than he has felt in years;  _ 27 years _ , he thought faintly. And as he drew his last breaths, Eddie felt elated on the thought of his friends, of his  _ real  _ family, and of Richie. 

_ Richie,  _ Eddie smiled, and then he died. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic on this site. I'll probably go back and forth between this site and Tumblr (I go by soulsweeper over there). Thanks for reading!


End file.
